We are happy to announce the results of the CIEE story contest. We asked all Spring + Summer 2006 CIEE Study Center participants to submit their story – a reflection of their international experience. We asked: what did you learn about the local culture, people, yourself? How has it changed your outlook? What would you tell other students thinking of going abroad?
We received many wonderful entries. It was hard to pick the winners! For those who participated, thank you. We greatly enjoyed reading all about your experiences on a CIEE Study Center program.
Congratulations to all!
Overall Winner
Emily Axford, George Washington University
CIEE Prague, Spring 2006
It was my first evening on my own in the Czech Republic. I’d accumulated a handful of victories that day: finding an Internet café, finding and using an international calling card, and deciphering the public tramcar system. This evening’s challenge was clear: obtain and consume dinner. A simple task for a carnivore well versed in a Slavic tongue. A daunting one, however, for a lactose-intolerant, vegetarian Anglophone in a foreign country whose cuisine boasts one meatless meal: “Smažený Sýr” or “Fried Cheese”.
I decided to explore the options near my apartment. I lived off the beaten track (the one worn in with tourist’s ergonomic sandals and sneakers) so English translation was sporadic and often erroneous. I chose a small tavern populated with a smattering of local flavor, speaking in hushed há?eks over cool beer and shivering candlelight. I sat by myself at what looked like a mahogany picnic table and slowly relieved myself of my burdens: wool mittens, a fleece lined hat, a crocheted scarf, and a down coat. I removed my only artillery: a small book, provided during orientation, entitled “A Brief History of the Czech Nation”. A waiter handed me a menu and sat down across from me. I stared at the unfamiliar coagulations of consonants.
The waiter was still there, so I considered him an ally and proceeded to try his English.
“What is this?”
Read Emily's entire story...
Second Place Winner
Bethany Birkelo, St. Olaf College
CIEE Legon, Spring 2006
As a pre-med student, I was fortunate enough to intern at the local hospital during my semester in Ghana. I spent most of my time in the children’s ward, watching and learning from the nurses. As a young obruni (white person, or foreigner) in a white coat, with almost no clinical experience and a very limited grasp of Twi, I was nothing short of a spectacle. Although I was enthusiastic and excited to learn as much as possible, my attempts at taking vital signs were, in the beginning, nervous and clumsy. What would take only a deft movement from the nurse would take me several minutes of trial and error. Fortunately the nurses were seasoned with years of training nursing students, and patiently helped me learn practical skills. During my internship, I also learned lessons larger than how to measure blood pressures and pulse rates, lessons about the miracle of medicine, and about the meeting of two different cultures.
My story starts one morning in March, a couple of weeks since my start at the hospital. There was much bustle and busyness in the ward, and I soon found out a new patient had just arrived. I followed one of the nurses, affectionately known as Auntie Philo, to the farthest section of the ward. It turns out that I could have found my way to the new patient on my own—the wails were so loud, and a flurry of activity surrounded the patient’s bed. My first glimpse of the patient, a girl of perhaps nine years named Antiya, is one that remains vivid in my memory—a small, thin girl, skin covered in a rash, lips swollen with infection, and the delicate skin of the eyelids raw and infected so that she was unable to open her eyes. The moment I walked in, the nurses and her mother were holding her down, trying to squirt saline solution on her eyelids and lashes while she screamed miserably. Antiya was the sickest patient I had ever seen, and I couldn’t imagine how she could possibly be healthy again. So, it came as a surprise when Auntie Philo told me that she would in fact be fine again. Antiya had German measles, a viral infection which would simply have to run its course, while antibiotics would treat her infections.
Read Bethany's entire story...
Third Place Winner
Rachel Glickhouse, George Washington University
CIEE Santo Domingo, Fall 2005 + CIEE Buenos Aires, Spring 2006
To me, the beauty of study abroad is living the extreme: doing things I never dreamed I would do and also surviving things I never imagined possible and things I always feared. In the end, realizing my dreams and my fears is what made going abroad the best experience of my life, because not only have I lived better than I ever had, but also have survived the worst, making me a stronger and better person than when I left.
During my two semesters abroad in Latin America, I lived in two of the most different cities and had two very different experiences. After a year in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Buenos Aires, Argentina, I will go home changed.
Read Rachel's entire story...
Submit Your Story!
Did you miss the story contest but want to submit your story for possible inclusion on our website or in our catalogs? Please click here and send it in!